


Accountability

by taylor_tut



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Paternal Roy Mustang, Post-Canon, Sick Character, Sick Edward Elric, Sickfic, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-17
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2019-03-19 16:31:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13708299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taylor_tut/pseuds/taylor_tut
Summary: Ed misses a meeting and Roy is furious--until he shows up running a fever.





	Accountability

Roy was  _ seething _ . 

It wasn’t often that he could physically  _ feel _ rage pulsating behind his eyes--that couldn’t be healthy--but right now, he was positively seeing red.

“Where the hell is he?” Roy asked, and Havoc shrugged. 

“Your guess is as good as mine. He hasn’t called,” he said, knowing that none of this was news to Roy. 

“He’d better hope for his sake that he’s dead, because if he’s not dead when he walks in here, I’ll kill him.” 

“I think you’re being a little harsh,” Havoc admitted, slinking out of the room when Roy turned his murderous gaze toward him. 

“Edward is coming up the steps now, Sir,” Hawkeye announced. Roy took a deep breath, trying to remind himself to give Ed a chance to speak. After all, he’d been busy. Al had been back in his body for nearly a year, and had decided to move out to Ishval to help the military begin to try to make amends. Al had studied medicine in that year that he was recovering, and though nowhere near a doctor or nurse’s level of expertise, he was fluent enough to help the sick and injured.

They were rebuilding Ishval, slowly, tentatively. Trying to wipe the ash off a bridge you’ve already burned and hope that the infrastructure is still strong enough to stay standing.

Ed hadn’t been apart from his brother in all the years he’d been alive, and Roy knew how much it worried him to let Al leave.

_ “You’re sure your muscles are stronger now?” _

_ “I’m fine, brother. I walk without any assistance, and as long as I can sit and take breaks, I’m totally independent.” _

_ “What if someone attacks you?” _

_ Al whipped out a gun that Riza had gifted him when she’d heard he was moving. _

_ “I think this will be enough to scare them off,” he said, grinning at Ed’s slack-jawed shock.  _

_ “Where did you--?!” _

_ “Miss Riza gave it to me,” he smiled. “I’m not planning to use it, but... a warning shot might save my life.” _

_ Unspoken, the thought that it was ironic that now the functionally-indestructible suit of armor which had protected him was gone, he suddenly had a quality of life that he wanted to protect. _

_ “I just... want you to be safe.” _

_ “I know, brother.” _

Ed had taken last week off to move Al up to Ishval and get him settled in, and from there, he was supposed to take the train a few days back to Central and be back in plenty of time to make the meeting with a bunch of other official military folk, where Ed was supposed to be a key speaker, and had been talked up as Roy’s most trusted man.

“Make sure he comes straight here,” Roy barked. 

Riza saluted and left, and moments later, Edward trudged in, soaking wet and shivering. For the first time, Roy opened the curtains and glanced out the window--it was pouring rain.

Ed stood before him, unsteady on his feet and with a blank expression, but it read as indifference, and that only fueled Roy’s fury.

“Where the  _ hell  _ were you this morning?” he demanded. Ed simply blinked. 

“This morning?’ he repeated slowly. Damn, his voice was rough. Even if he  _ had _ been present, he probably wouldn’t have been able to give his speech sounding like that. However, that didn’t excuse the unexplained absence. 

“Yes, this morning. You were supposed to be here at 800 hours. You had a speech to give. I looked like an idiot, Full--Elric!” He stopped himself from using Ed’s antiquated military title, but didn’t drop the formality. “I introduced you as a trusted comrade; I talked you up to these people so that they would take you seriously despite your age--and you just--didn’t show up! What do you have to say for yourself?” 

Ed looked up at Roy with wide, near-fearful eyes. “I don’t… the meeting’s not til tomorrow… I thought…?” 

Something about his tone was off, even more than just the obvious frog in his throat. 

“C’n I sit?” Ed asked, and Roy deflated, sighing irritably. 

“Might as well,” he shrugged. He, too, sat back down in his chair, facing Edward. Even seated, Ed was shaking, his face pale and eyes darting from one thing to another sluggishly, never really focusing. “What day do you think today is, Elric?” Roy asked. Traveling, he had to admit, could sometimes make him lose track of the days, and he didn’t know how he’d ever keep his schedule without a secretary and Riza to ensure he got everything done.

“Uh…” Ed stammered, taking far too long to answer. “Gimme a hint?” 

Roy frowned. “It’s Tuesday,” he supplied, waiting for the realization to spread across Ed’s face when he remembered the meeting.

Instead, he just nodded. “Mm’kay,” he agreed. It was quiet, and he seemed to be fighting to stay awake even in just the few minutes they’d been talking.

“You’ve clearly had a long trip,” Roy finally softened. The damage was done, anyway, and there was no point in yelling at Ed when he was this tired. “Why don’t you just go home and get some rest. We can discuss this tomorrow.”

“Discuss what?” Ed asked. Now, Roy’s stomach sank. 

“What do you mean, what? The meeting we were just talking about,” he said. “Is everything okay? Did something happen on your trip?” He knew Ed was worried about his brother, but he was  _ never _ this unfocused. 

“Trip… Ah, crap,” Ed cursed, “I forgot my report.”

Mustang stood now, crossing the room in two long strides to kneel in front of Ed.

“What report?”

“The mission,” Ed slurred, “I don’t… I don’t…” he trailed off, shaking his head and pressing his palms to his eyes.

“Ed, look at me,” Roy commanded, none too gently. “Are you feeling alright? Did you hit your head or something?”

“No,” he replied, “why?”

“You seem out of it.” Roy took the keyring out of his pocket and fumbled for the flashlight on it. “Look straight ahead,” he said, shining the light in front of Ed’s eyes. He flinched away from the light, but his pupils seemed reactive enough. “What’s wrong?” Ed had nearly whimpered when the light hit his eyes.

“I wanna go to sleep,” Ed whined. “Got sick on the train.”

Roy instinctively bit the fingertip of his glove to remove it. “Have you seen a doctor?”

“No,” Ed admitted, “figured I could just sleep it off. Then Hawkeye kept callin’ me this morning… said I had to come in.”

He reached over to press a hand to Ed’s forehead and winced. “Shit,” he muttered, “that’s a hell of a fever. Why didn’t you just tell her you weren’t feeling well?”

Ed shrugged. “She said it was ‘mportant.” 

Roy sighed. “I wouldn’t have made you come in this sick,” he said, “you should have known that.” Ed mumbled something incoherent. “But you were probably pretty out of your head with this fever… so it’s understandable.”

“M’I in trouble?” he asked.

“You’re not a soldier anymore, Ed,” Roy said with a small smile, “There’s nothing I could do even if I wanted to.”

Ed managed a weak chuckle. “I’m sure you’d find some way to make my life hell,” he smirked. 

Roy rolled his eyes. “I’m calling the medic,” he said. “I can’t decide… should I have her give you all your medications in injection form, or should I just have her mix them in with some milk?”

“You bastard,” Ed bit.

“Suppository it is,” he chirped, dialing the phone. Once he’d hung up, he glanced back at Ed, who’d already fallen asleep on the couch. Someone knocked on his door.

“I heard that Edward is ill,” Riza said, entering the room and beelining to the boy. She made a small noise of disapproval when she felt the heat there. 

“I thought he’d get a little smarter about taking care of himself once he didn’t have to take care of his brother anymore,” Roy sighed, but Riza laughed. 

“Oh, Sir,” she said, shaking her head, “he’ll never not be worried about Alfons. No matter how healthy Al is and how well he’s doing, Ed will be worried. That’s just his nature.” She smiled. “Just as we haven’t stopped worrying for Ed, even after he left the military and settled into civilian life.”

“Well, the brat could at least take care of himself a little better,” Roy muttered. 

Ed relaxed as she placed her cool hand across his forehead. “It’s a good thing he has us until he learns that.”

Roy only nodded. 


End file.
